Light emitting elements such as an LED element have conventionally been used in light emitting apparatuses that are used for lighting, backlight, industrial equipment, and the like. Some such light emitting elements can include a reflective electrode layer made of Ag or the like, which is formed on a surface opposite to a light emission surface of a semiconductor structure layer including an active layer. Ag and other materials used for the reflective electrode layer are prone to electromigration. The electromigration refers to the diffusion and movement of Ag and the like in the LED element due to an electric field and/or a current flow. For such a reason, an anti-diffusion layer is formed around the reflective electrode layer (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. Hei. 11-220171, 2007-080899, and 2007-335793).
Low-profile high-output LED elements have been used recently. In such an LED element, a high current flowing into the element may diffuse the metal components forming the reflective electrode layer, such as Ag and Al, such that the metal components are pushed out along the surface of the semiconductor structure layer. This may reduce the density of the reflective electrode layer to lower the reflectance at the surface of the reflective electrode layer. In addition, the current density in the semiconductor structure layer becomes uneven, which reduces the emission efficiency of the light emitting element. The metal components can be diffused to and deposited on the side surfaces of the semiconductor structure layer, in which case the semiconductor structure layer is short-circuited to cause a lighting failure and the like of the light emitting element.